Folding box



(No'Mdde L) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

' H. A. LOVERIN'.

FOLDING- BOX.

Patented Jan. 11

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019cm, Pnmoumc, wAswNomN u c 2 t e .e h s W e e h S 2 N MK m nu N I D A H H. d 0 M 0 m Patented Jan. 11, 1898. xii Q a l I l 172742727?? Henry fiAZm erz'n 6 Z%mg/ ol 0 UNITED STATES PATENT l l lilho HENRY A. LOVERIN, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

FOLDING BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 597,065, dated January 11, 1898.

Application filed May 25, 1897. Serial No. 638.004. (Nu model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY A. LOVEEIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of l-lennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Boxes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object to provide an improved knockdown or folding box especially adapted for use for delivering groceries and other articles which are either put up in small packages or are to be delivered in loose bulk.

It is the ordinary practice or custom for deliverymen to use baskets for delivering groceries and other provisions to the retail trade. These baskets take up practicallyas much room when empty as when filled. Furthermore, when the baskets are stored or shipped they are very bulky and take up a large amount of room. In large cities where spacerent is very high it is of especial importance that the articles or devices used to hold the groceries or provisions when delivered should be capable of being packed in a very small compass or space. iVith a view of meeting these demands with a simple, cheap, and durable device my invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described, and defined in the claim.

The preferred form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, where in, like letters indicating like parts through out the several views-- Figure 1 is a perspective view showing my improved knockdown box set up in position for use. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the box, showing the same partially folded. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the box in its set-up position with some parts broken away. Fig. 4c is a perspective view of the box shown as knocked down or with the parts in their completely-folded positions; and Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line as x of Fig. 3, but showing the bottom of the box turned upward toward its folded position.

a indicates the sides, and b the ends, of the box. At the diagonally opposite corners of the box the side pieces a are provided with end ribs or flanges a, which are turned at right angles to said sides a. These flanges a are connected to the adjacent edges of the end pieces I) by means of long hinges 0. Likewise the other edges of the end pieces I) are connected to the adjacent edges of the side pieces a by means of hinges c. The hinges c and 0 will permit the parts of the box to be folded together in the manner indicated in Figs. 2 and i, and they also serve to form a tight joint between the parts. which they connect. The end pieces I) are provided with inturned stop-flanges 1), preferably formed by metallic strips secured to the lower extremities thereof in such a manner that when the box is folded they will pass under the lower edges of the side pieces a. To the inner and lower portion of one of the side pieces a a bottom plate f is hinged by means of a hingef. This bottom f is of such size that when it is turned down it will closely fit the rectangular frame formed by the side pieces a and b, and it is stopped and rests upon the stop-flanges I). Preferably each box is provided on its sides with dowel pins orlugs g and with dowel seats 9'. This adapts the boxes to be piled one on top of the other and there held simply by placing the dowel-seats of a given box over the dowel pins or lugs of the box which is beneath the same. The end pieces Z) of the box are shown as provided with hand-holes b and the bottom f is shown as provided with a finger-hole f*.

In case it is desired to make a box wherein the width of the bottom f is greater than the height of the sides a and ends I) I would prefl erably form the bottom f in two sections and unite the same by means of a hinge as indicated at f by dotted lines in Fig. 5. in this case the flanges a of the sides a should be deep enough to permit the box to fold fiat over the folded sections of said bottom f.

When the sides and ends of the box are thrown into the form of a rectangle the bottom f will fall against the stop-flanges b and will brace and hold the box in its set-up position. When it is desired to fold the box, as shown in Fig. l, the bottom f must first be turned up against the side a to which it is hinged. Then by pressing on the sides of the box it will assume its folded position. The flanges a. are in depth substantially the same dimension as the thickness of the bottom f, so as to permit all of the said parts to be folded fiat or face to face.

The advantages of a box of this character for the purposes had in view must be obvious. The construction above specifically de scribed has many advantages over any and all of the modified forms of the box which I have devised; but I do not, however, limit myself to this particular construction, but, on the contrary, desire to claim, broadly, a box constructed with knockdown parts which are adapted to be folded together.

lVhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

A folding box having its four walls con- YVitnesses L. G. ELMORE, F. D. BIERCHANT. 

